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A sentimental journey

When Paula Spencer made her first fictional appearance as The Woman Who Walked into Doors, a silly American critic called her “Molly Bloom’s sadder and wiser younger sister”, presumably because she lived in Dublin, spoke her own lines and used rude words. In this book, she’s nine years older, hasn’t moved away and is as foul-mouthed as ever, but now the narrative is indirect, told in a modified third person that allows access to Paula’s silent thoughts. Long before the end of the book, the privilege has become unwelcome.

Her brutal husband Charlo is still dead, but life hasn’t improved. She shares her boozy battle over the bottle with her bed-wetting daughter Leanne. Another daughter, Nicola, is more responsible, bringing the inevitable problem that she has to behave like a mother to Paula. One son, John Paul, is getting over his heroin